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As Silent Nights Go By Pastor Lee Hemen December 19, 2020 As silent nights go, it was nothing new; Only noted by a chosen few. The evening breeze blew soft that night, And stars twinkled in heavenly delight.      Shepherds watched their flocks in fields, Covered themselves from the cold to shield. While in a little town in a manger lay, A small baby boy tucked in soft brown hay. Near his crude crib his father knelt, His young mother in wonder felt; Her son so tiny chosen to be, The one who’d come to set captives free. Back in the fields angels sing, Hallelujahs to the Godly king! Born that day in the tiny town, A baby wears a heavenly crown. The shepherds rush to the manger scene, To tell the parents of what they’d seen. The mother wonders at what it meant, About her son that God has sent. How could it be that one so small, Born in a simple manger stall, Could be the savior of all mankind That even wise men would seek to find? And yet the carols we still sing, Of the baby born a heaven

Ramblings from Retirement: Language Is More than Words! By Lee Hemen (retired pastor) December 7, 2020 People sure are loose with their language in our day. Not just with the foul-mouthed verbiage they use but with the excuses they make in order to justify their ungodly actions. It reminds me of King Saul and how he tried to use excuses and words to justify his own rebellion to God. He was told by Samuel, God’s spokesman (prophet), to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Now to our “sensitive” ears that may sound harsh, judgmental, and unjustified but it wasn't. We often try to judge history with our own preconceived notions of what is justified today but to do so is to error big time. We dare not judge people in history by today’s standards and especially God. He had pretty good reasons for why he wanted the Amalekites destroyed. God kn

Reflections on 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 - Thanks--giving By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 26, 2020 "Since the "Mayflower" had left England nine weeks behind schedule, the New World's harsh weather threatened their very survival... Winter took its toll. Journal entries feature the same melancholy theme week after week, for months on end: "... Aboute noone, it began to raine ... at night, it did freeze & snow ... still the cold weather continued ... very wet and rainy, with the greatest gusts of wind ever we saw ... frost and foule weather hindered us much; this time of the yeare seldom could we worke half the week." That winter more than half the heads of households perished. Aboard ship only five of eighteen wives lived through the ravages of scurvy, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. An entry for March 24th reads: "This month thirteen of our number die. And in three months past dies halfe our company ... Of a hundred persons, scarce fifty remain, the

Ramblings from Retirement: Give Thanks! By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 21, 2020 Thanksgiving is coming and it is one of my favorite holidays. The reasons for me are many because I not only love the food and family time but I enjoy what Thanksgiving represents. It is truly an American holiday where we are encouraged to pause and give thanks to God for the blessings He has given us. We discover that the early Pilgrims encouraged this with not just a one day celebration but with their entire lives as well. And far from being the black and white dressed grim faced people many think they were the Pilgrims were actually very joyous and colorful people. They came to these shores not to inflict slavery, as some would erroneously have you swallow, but they came here for religious and personal freedom. We discover that within a very short period of time that their communal form of governance caused huge problems with their colony and they decided to give each person the freedom to produc

Ramblings from Retirement: Hypocrisy can run silent and deep! By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 14, 2020 I learned in High School that in ancient Roman religion and myth Janus was the god of beginnings and endings, gates, transitions, time, duality, and often his image was found in doorways, passages, or the frames of houses. He was often depicted with two faces, one facing forward and one backward. In theaters we often see two face masks: One depicted by a frown and the other by a smile. The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek word meaning taking on an assumed character which is not truly your own; being two-faced. When one is called “two-faced” it comes from the idea of being a hypocrite. Christians are often called hypocrites by those who do not understand what it means to be “Christian.” Christians are made perfect in the eyes of God through their faith and trust in Christ, but they are not perfect in their humanity. Does this mean Christians should not strive to be what they

Ramblings from Retirement: Do you live an easy chair faith? By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 7, 2020 “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the convention to pass a resolution delivering Virginian troops for the Revolutionary War. Henry knew that freedom often demands our personal sacrifice. However what many American Christians have conveniently forgotten is that our freedom was bought with a price and maintaining it can require a sacrifice from each of us as well. Jesus related to his disciples that a time would come when a “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecut

 Ramblings from Retirement: The most important time is now. By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 2, 2020 I went out to lunch the other day because I had been working at church trying to get our live video feed working properly. (It is still a work in progress.) I stopped by and got something and in the fast food place was a young man sitting there reading his Bible. Curious, I asked him which book he was reading from and he related it was Genesis. We had a short discussion about the Scriptures and I got my order and ate. This got me to thinking though about the words of Psalm 119:11 where the Psalmist tells God: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalms 119:11 NIV)” These are good thoughts and I remembered how I was encouraged to do just that as a young Christian. In thinking about this however I realized that few looked at the words before this verse or those afterwards as well. So let’s take a quick look at what the Psalmist writes: “How can a y

Ramblings from Retirement: The only thing we have to fear is… By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) October 24, 2020 There is a famous line from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR who said in one of his speeches, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”; sounds pithy doesn’t it? It helped a lot of folks during the crisis of the Depression and looming World War II that they could face their fear and move on as a Nation. Yet in our day and age we have politicians who focus on our fears and try to scare us into voting for them or otherwise we will face doom, gloom, and even death! It is a basement mentality and I fear has a lot of folks fooled in our day into thinking that we’re all gonna die from something. Well guess what? We are. The writer of the Book of Hebrews in the Bible wrote that “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” meaning we will all die at some point and face that same judgment. However he doesn’t stop there but c

Ramblings from Retirement: How should a Christian vote? By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) October 21, 2020 I have always found it kind of humorous when people get all excited about voting as a Christian simply because your definition of what makes a “Christian” might be quite different form another’s definition. If we can’t agree on who to vote for what makes you think we will agree on what the definition of Christian is? So like any good editor, writer, or researcher we must define what being a “Christian” is and there is no better place to begin than the Scriptures. (Bible for those of you who think that any mystical writing is “Scripture” and it is not.) The very first place where we find the word “Christian” being used is in Acts 11:25-26 where Paul is describing a man named Barnabas who was a godly man that helped Paul with new churches: “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the

Ramblings from Retirement: Finding Rest in a Fearful World By Lee Hemen October 8, 2020 The dictionary defines alienation as “the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved.” If furthers goes on to state that there can be a loss of sympathy and an estrangement that occurs. This is evidenced by those who stay away from worship for any length of time and why the writer of Hebrews would state: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV)” When we stay away from those that we are told to fellowship with we become alienated from them. When we stay away from the One we are supposed to daily talk with we also become ali

When A Good-Bye Is A Good Thing! - 2 Timothy 4:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 26, 2020 Benjamin Franklin wrote that both “fish and visitors stink after three days” and he could have been referring to the fact that a lot of people back then did not bath as often as they should, I’m not sure. Yet I have seen that far too often how some pastors can overstay their ministry and they begin to stink like unwanted guests or old fish. Sometimes, saying “good-bye” is a good thing. I have learned that when the Lord begins to share with you what you need to do you had better do it and this is the case with my own retirement. I do not want to stink but leave when the Lord commands. The Apostle Paul was headed to prison and he knew it because God had told him this was the case. He desired to leave a few things behind that he hoped would benefit a young protégé and the early church as a whole. Let’s discovery when good-bye is a good thing… READ: 2 Timothy 4:1-8 Paul understood that the world needed the

Nothing in life is free! -- John 6:22-33 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 12, 2020 There is a tale that the great circus promoter P. T. Barnum once quipped, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” There is a lot of doubt as to whether he actually said this or not, but one thing I have heard over and over again is the old truism “nothing in life is free.” This is true of anyone who wants to sell you the latest get rich scheme, diet pill, or quick spiritual fix. Nothing in life is free. However, the Apostle Paul wrote, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24 NIV)” In other words, we receive the gift of salvation freely from God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Nothing in life is free, except salvation from God through Jesus! And here in John’s gospel we find that

Fellowship Is A Beautiful Thing! – Acts 2:42-47 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 28, 2020 New things are exciting; new houses, new relationships, new cars or new toys – all of these things can be exciting at first. The same is true for new churches, new Sunday School Classes, and new pastors. But after the excitement wears off then there is the hard work of taking care of, maintaining, and developing some of these things. The church was brand new and it was exciting. Things were happening and God was moving to build his church in the world so it could be the witness he needed. Within the newness of the early church we discover that the disciples began to develop how the body of Christ was to operate in the world and in doing so we discover that fellowship is a beautiful thing. Let’s see how and why… READ: Acts 2:42-47 GBC is in the process of finding a new pastor and we should desire one that encourages fellowship, is willing to come alongside of others, and develop us as believers.

How to Find Comfort In a Harsh World! – Luke 24:31-40 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 14, 2020 Sometimes example can be so much better than a lecture. Some of the best teachers I have had growing up were those who were willing to come alongside of me and show me how to do something rather than just tell me how to do it. While the Bible teaches us how to live; and whom we should believe in -- it cannot mentor us like someone who has already been there and done that. This is how we can learn to find comfort in a harsh world! If you think your world is falling apart just remember the disciples who had followed Jesus for three and a half years and now had to come to terms with his death. Some were in hiding in fear of being discovered by the authorities, captured, and tortured or crucified, and others had just dejectedly decided to head home. For them, everything they had believed in had come to a horrendous end, what was left? Jesus decided in his wisdom to show them how to find comfort in

How We Can Encourage One Another! – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 7, 2020 We’ve been talking a lot about encouraging one another lately and I think it is something we all need to hear. And with all that has been going on in the news recently many think that this is the forerunner of the end of days, but I assure you it is not. Rather it is the outcome of a world that has turned its back on the holy things of God. As Christians we need to focus on the One who holds the world in the palm of his hands. We need to encourage one another! Paul wrote a young church about the concerns he had for its future. They needed to focus on whom they had put their faith and trust in, how they should walk in him, and how they could encourage one another to live as God desired them to in a world that seemed to be destroying itself. Let’s learn this morning how we can encourage one another… READ: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 The death of a young man at the hands of those in society we